(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow)

LAKEWOOD – Perfect weather led to a record-breaking day for the top pole vaulters in Class 4A on Thursday at the state meet at Jefferson County Stadium.

Thompson Valley’s Becker Ell and Silver Creek’s Megan Kelleghan both broke Class 4A state meet records en route to winning their first state titles.

Ell cleared 16 feet to cruise to the title and top the previous mark of 15-8.5, set by Sam Pierson of Pueblo South in 2006.

“It feels kind of surreal, especially because I’ve been trying at it for the last two or three meets and just getting closer and closer,” said Ell, a senior. “It just feels unreal, to be honest. I’m so stoked.”

(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow)

Ell had been the heavy favorite, coming in with a previous best of 15-7, nearly two feet ahead of anyone else. Still, he had to perform on the biggest stage.

“Nerves at the state meet your last year, it’s always kind of iffy and nerve-wracking, but I just went out there and wanted to have some fun and try to do as best as I could,” he said.

Kelleghan, just a sophomore, was also a heavy favorite and delivered with a vault of 13-4.5, a half inch above the previous mark of 13-4 by Andrea Willis of The Classical Academy in 2016.

“That was great,” she said. “It was very exciting because I’ve been so close. … Today it just pieced together. I was scared at first because there was supposed to be rain and wind. It ended up being perfect weather, so I’m very relieved with it and happy I was able to clear that.”

Kelleghan had a previous best of 13 feet, with nobody else better than 10-9 coming in. If there was pressure, however, she didn’t feel it.

“More pressure on myself, personally,” she said. “Even when I’m with people who vault close to me I try to stay in  my own little bubble around myself. You can’t compete against people in this because it’s all about the bar, it’s all about your form. It’s you and your own self. That’s what I try to think about.”

(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow)

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Class 5A

(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow)

Poudre’s Rhys Travis was the star on what is typically a light day for the state’s largest classification.

Only four state titles were awarded in 5A boys on Thursday, but Travis took two of them.

A junior, Travis won the boys high jump and triple jump. He was favored coming into state. In the high jump, Travis had a season-best leap of 6 feet, 7 inches, topping his previous best by two inches. In the triple jump, he was under his season best, but still had a leap of 46 feet, 3 inches to win the title.

Travis wasn’t the only athlete from Fort Collins to win a state title on Thursday.

(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow)

Brooke Naughton of Fort Collins won the high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 7 inches. The junior was the favorite coming in.

In the boys shot put, Braiden Dishman of Fossil Ridge was projected to win and he came through. The senior had a throw of 52 feet, 3.25 inches to claim his title.

Also in field event, Lakewood senior Amanda Opp had a season-best throw of 40 feet, 9.5 inches to win the girls shot put, while Grandview senior Melody Nwagwu had a leap of 39 feet, 9 inches to win the girls triple jump.

On the track, just one event – the 3,200-meter relay – had a final in Class 5A. Cherry Creek cruised to the title on the girls side, with a time of 9 minutes, 5.73 seconds, while Mountain Vista won the boys title, in 7:57.13.

[divider]

Class 4A

(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow)

At the most recent state track and field meet, in 2019, Niwot swept the boys and girls team titles. The Cougars are aiming for a repeat performance this year and got off to a great start Thursday.

Senior Lucca Fulkerson won the girls 3,200 meters, with teammate Mia Prok finishing second. That duo then led the Cougars to a win in the 3,200 relay.

“Everybody has trained so hard, so it’s definitely within grasp,” Fulkerson said of a team championship. “Every day everybody is out there running as hard as they can, especially in the heat right now.

“I’m so proud of our whole team. Everybody deserves it and they work so hard. I’m so glad that they’re my teammates and I get to race with them.”

Fulkerson, who had three top-seven medals as a sophomore in 2019, won her first individual title in the 3,200.

(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow)

“It was definitely amazing,” she said. “I didn’t really think about anything until the last 20 meters, because I didn’t want to think with the last lap to go. It was really amazing and I was so excited.”

Niwot had four top-eight finishers in the girls 3,200 and scored 35 points on the day.

The boys, meanwhile, were led by junior Zane Bergen, who won the 3,200 meters and anchored the Cougars’ victory in the 3,200 relay.

In the 3,200, Niwot’s Simon Saia was second, with Grayden Rauba fourth. The Cougars closed the day with 34 team points.

“Kind of the plan going in was try to set up the race so that we could score as many team points as possible,” Bergen said. “We’re going for the team championship and we needed to score a decent amount of points in the two-mile to make that happen.

“It’s really, really cool (to win an individual title), but, like I said, I just came here to score the most points for the team as possible. I’m happy that we did that today in both events.”

The girls also set a 4A state meet record in the 800-meter relay prelims, posting a time of 1:39.72.

In the boys discus, Avery Shunneson of Thomas Jefferson won the title and set a new 4A state meet record. The Princeton-bound  Shunneson had a throw of 192 feet, 6 inches to shatter the record of 188-6 previously set by Pueblo East’s Kain Medrano in 2019.

In other events, Mitchell’s Daryon Wilson won the boys long jump with a leap of 23-5.25; Mullen’s Agur Dwol won the girls long jump with a leap of 18-11.25; and Northfield’s Giovanna Meeks won the girls discus with a throw of 141-2.

[divider]

Class 3A

(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow)

Jefferson Academy’s Crisly Kelly-Cannon’s freshman track and field season was supposed to be in 2020, but the pandemic prevented that from happening. Based on what the sophomore has done so far in is state meet debut, it would have been fun to see what he could have done as a ninth-grader.

On Thursday, Kelly-Cannon won the first finals event he has competed in as a high schooler and qualified for several others throughout the meet. His mark of 23 feet, 1.5 inches in the long jump was also a Class 3A state meet record.

(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow)

“My freshman year was cancelled so I haven’t been to a state meet before,” Kelly-Cannon said. “It was weird because I went into my freshman year all hyped up and everything. I was ready to get started and then I had to take a year off. That threw us all off but I just hit the gym and started getting better and better.

“I’m feeling really good. I started off with the 100 today and PR’d in that. So that set me up for the long jump and energized me. In the 200, we ran into some headwind so that’s alright. It was a pretty good first day.”

Kelly-Cannon’s teammate Sierra Haberman won the 3A girls high jump, clearing 5-4.

In one of the most exciting races of the season, the Liberty Common 3,200-meter relay team edged The Classical Academy (8:15.11) in a photo finish to claim the title with a time of 8:15.08.

Holy Family’s Brody Welch won the 3A boys shot put with a mark of 50-4.5.

“They were getting close and I knew they could pop one as far as I did,” said Welch, who finished ninth as a freshman in discus and will try and improve on that tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. “Once I saw the last guys throw, I knew I had it.”

The Berthoud girls won the 3,200-meter relay with a time of 9:26.23.

(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow)

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Class 2A

(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow)

Dayspring Christian’s Eboselulu Omofoma didn’t waste any time in winning her first state title.

Still just a freshman, Omofoma cleared a personal best 5-3.5 in the Class 2A high jump to win the state championship. It was an exciting opening day to her first state meet, but Omofoma also hopes her early-career victory is a sign of things to come.

(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow)

“I totally thought these other girls would come in and take first, second, third place,” Omofoma said. “But I PR’d by half an inch, so that’s great. God gave me the strength to do it. That’s it. I hope I can do better in the next years.”

Over on the track, Thursday was a good day for Buena Vista. Demons girls picked up a win in the 3,200 courtesy of Zaila Smith, who finished first with a time of 12:00.18.

The Wray girls won the 3,200-meter relay title with a time of 10:30.38.

Hayden’s Alison Rajzer won the girls triple jump, clearing 35-7.

On the boys side, Peyton won the 3,200-meter relay with a time of 8:29.76. Custer County’s Micah Zeller won the 3,200 with a time of 9:47.00.

Yuma’s Braden Smith cleared 13-01 to claim the pole vault gold.

True to his name, Limon’s Jeremiah Leeper won the triple jump with a mark of 42-6.75.

Wray’s Bryant Schoenthal won the 2A boys discus with a mark of 173-8.

[divider]

Class 1A

(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow)

There were no preliminary races in Class 1A on Thursday, but several state titles were claimed in the classification.

In the 800 medley relay, Springfield won the gold with a time of 1:57.77.

(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow)

Heritage Christian’s Ainsley Stanton won the girls 3,200 in 12:44.87.

Lone Star’s Alivia Weathers won the 1A girls pole vault, clearing 10 feet.

Elbert’s Olivia Lay wont the discus with a mark of 127-5.

On the boys side, Heritage Christian runner Jack Nauman’s 10:27.15 was plenty fast enough to win the 3,200.

DeBeque’s Jaden Jordan won the long jump with a mark of 21-6.50.

Granada’s John Hainer threw 45-0.25 to win the discus.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

PUEBLO — The only thing better than having a chance to win a baseball state championship is having two.

That’s exactly what Ponderosa will have on Saturday as the Mustangs beat D’Evelyn 7-3 to advance to Saturday unbeaten. With Holy Family winning earlier in the day, it means that the Tigers will have to take down Ponderosa twice while the Mustangs need just one win to claim the Class 4A state baseball title.

“We’ve talked about this for years and we approached it as another game we had to win” Ponderosa coach Bob Maloney said. “It’s huge for us to go into tomorrow undefeated especially against a quality Holy Family team.”

The Mustangs (20-2 overall) have no desire to fix a game plan that isn’t broken. They advanced to the second weekend of the state tournament without a loss by being steady on the mound and powerfully opportunistic at the plate.

After falling behind 1-0 to the Jaguars (14-5) in the top of the second inning, Ponderosa strung together four quick runs to take control.

In the third, the Mustangs showed off some of the power they had last week in Pueblo as Dom Lopez blasted a solo home run, his third of the state tournament.

“When you’re playing with a lead, it’s so much easier,” Lopez said. “And when you know your sticks are hot, you know you can get away with things you can’t get away with in you’re not hitting as well.”

With plenty of offense in the bag, pitcher Cael Porter maintained a steady hand after entering the game with one out in the second inning. Knowing he would get the necessary run support, Porter was determined to do his job and put the Mustangs in firm control of the state tournament heading into the final day of play.

“I wasn’t sure how our offense was going to do today,” Porter said. “I knew we’d do alright but that run support definitely helped a lot. I was nervous coming in and that made me feel a lot better.”

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

Holy Family’s championship hopes remain alive after battling back to beat Cheyenne Mountain 5-4 in the day’s first game. The Tigers (19-2) were up 3-0 after the first inning and Izaak Siefken kept the Cheyenne Mountain hitters at bay for most of the game. A three-run pad felt good enough to win as the game reached the later innings.

“I thought it was,” Siefken said. “Cheyenne Mountain fought hard and came back. They beat me in that last inning.”

Trailing 3-1 heading to the 7th, Cheyenne Mountain (17-4) got the tying run across the plate to force the game into extra innings, where it took a 4-3 lead in the top of the 8th.

A base hit and a hit batter put runners on first and second for the Tigers and Ryan Chacon brought them home with a hard hit double, keeping the Tigers in the mix.

It was the kind of win that the Tigers saw Ponderosa get last week and now there is hope a walk-off win could ignite a championship run.

“It could be,” Holy Family coach John Ray said. “Brad Helton threw a heck of a game against us, for all intents and purposes it just came out Holy Family.”

The Tigers and the Mustangs will play at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday at Hobbs Field following the conclusion of the 2A state championship game. Should Holy Family win, the second game will begin at 3 p.m.

(Ben Parris)

At four different sites, Colorado’s top high school girls soccer teams spent Wednesday afternoon and evening battling it out in order to decide which of them would square off for their respective classification championships on Saturday at Weidner Field in Colorado Springs. The championship matchups are now set in all four classes.

Class 2A – No. 2 Dawson vs. No. 1 Telluride – 9 a.m.

Class 4A – No. 12 Holy Family vs No. 2 Evergreen – Noon

Class 5A – No. 2 Broomfield vs. No. 4 Rock Canyon – 3 p.m.

Class 3A – No. 1 Kent Denver vs. No. 10 Colorado Academy – 6 p.m.

[divider]

Class 5A

(4) Rock Canyon 1, (1) Valor Christian 0

The Rock Canyon girls soccer team has never won a state championship but the Jaguars have will have a chance to change that now that they have pushed their way into the state Season D state title game.

Getting past the No. 1 overall seed, No. 4 Rock Canyon (12-1) won 1-0 over top-seeded Valor Christian (11-1-1) in the Class 5A state semifinals on Wednesday. The Jaguars are on a 12-game win streak and will be looking to take home a trophy with lucky win No. 13 at Weidner Field in Colorado Springs on Saturday.

(2) Broomfield 1, (3) Cherry Creek 0

Sophomore Raegan Kotschau’s goal just before halftime turned out to be a big one, as it ended up being the lone score in a defensive battle against Cherry Creek that sent Broomfield into the Class 5A state championship game.

With both teams entering the semifinals without a loss, the Eagles (12-0-1) and Bruins (11-1) had allowed a combined 15 goals in 24 games before meeting up at Englewood High School on Wednesday. For the most part the constest played out as expected, with both defenses and goalkeepers stifling their opponents’ offenses until one team or the other finally put a ball in the back of the net.

That team, Broomfield, will now have the opportunity to play for its first state title since 2006.

[divider]

Class 4A

(12) Holy Family 1, (1) Northridge 0

The lowest seed remaining in the Colorado high school girls soccer postseason made a big move on Wednesday night.

Twelfth-seeded Holy Family (10-2) knocked off No. 1 Northridge (12-1), 1-0, in the Class 4A state semifinals and will play for a state championship at Weidner Field in Colorado Springs on Saturday. Jaelen Giron put the stamp on the biggest upset of the Colorado semifinals with a goal in the 62nd minute to give the Tigers an opportunity to play for a state title in Season D.

On Saturday, the Holy Family girls soccer team will play for the program’s first state title.

(2) Evergreen 1, (3) The Classical Academy 0

Wednesday evening certainly wasn’t a bad one for Evergreen athletics.

While the Cougars’ girls lacrosse team was in Aurora stamping the school’s name on the first ever Class 4A girls lacrosse trophy, the Evergreen girls soccer team was at Frederick High School crafting a 1-0 semifinal victory over No. 3 The Classical Academy (12-1-2). The second-seeded Cougars (13-0) remain unbeaten in Season D and will play for the 4A title on Saturday.

Through 13 games, the Cougars have allowed just four goals this season. Wednesday’s defensive shutout dealt The Classical Academy its first loss of the campaign.

Evergreen girls soccer has won two state championships, but has not taken home a first-place trophy since 1997.

[divider]

Class 3A

(1) Kent Denver 2, (4) Jefferson Academy 1

Kent Denver remains unbeaten in Season D. More importantly, that undefeated record has now earned the team an opportunity to play for a the Class 3A state championships.

In Wednesday’s semifinal round, the top-seeded Sun Devils (11-0-2) won 2-1 over No. 4 Jefferson Academy (10-2-1) and will head down to Colorado Springs for one more game on Saturday. After getting past a similarly defensively-talented Jaguars team on Wednesday, the Sun Devils will arrive at Weidner Field having outscored their Season D opponents 68-5.

(10) Colorado Academy 4, (3) Vail Mountain 0

With a pair of first-half goals and two more in the second half, No. 10 Colorado Academy (10-2-1) flew past No. 3 Vail Mountain (12-1) in the Class 3A state semifinals on Wednesday night at Stutler Bowl in Aurora.

The victory continued an impressive postseason run for the Mustangs, who have now outscored their three playoff opponents 11-1 and have not allowed a goal since the opening round. Colorado Academy girls soccer won its fifth state title in 2019 and will be looking to add a sixth when the Mustangs take the field in Colorado Springs on Saturday.

[divider]

Class 2A

(1) Telluride 4, (2) Crested Butte 1

Ayla Kanow wasn’t ready to officially start her summer break just yet, so she made sure the Telluride girls soccer team stuck around for the Class 2A championship game.

The junior scored three goals in a 4-1 victory over No. 4 Crested Butte (9-3) in the state semifinals on Wednesday afternoon to help the top-seeded Miners (12-0) punch their ticket to the final match of Season D. Wednesday’s game was tied 1-1 at halftime before Telluride exploded for three goals in the second half.

In Saturday’s state championship game, the unbeaten Miners will be playing for their program’s first state title.

(2) Dawson 9, (3) Denver Christian 3

Dawson has played in every single Class 2A girls soccer championship game since the classification was introduced in 2015. That’s five in a row and the Mustangs will make it six when they take the field at Weidner Field in Colorado Springs on Saturday.

In the semifinals on Wednesday evening, No. 2 Dawson (10-1) won 9-3 over No. 3 Denver Christian (10-1), the same program they have face in each of the past three state title tilts. While that championship rivalry won’t continue in Season D, the Mustangs will have a chance to keep their own streak of championship appearances alive when they face Telluride for the trophy.

The Mustangs led 4-2 at halftime and continued to pour it on in the second half to pull away to a safe distance. The Mustangs’ only loss of the season to date came on June 10 against Northridge, the top overall seed in the 4A state tournament.

Dawson senior Degen Miller leads all of Class 2A in goals scored.

AURORA – The Class 4A state tournament was anything but a made for television event. There wasn’t one ounce of drama after Day 1 for either Holy Family’s Jessica Mason or the Discovery Canyon Thunder.

Both had sizable leads after Monday’s first round, and both expanded on them on a blazing Tuesday afternoon at CommonGround Golf Course.

Mason kept the medalist honors at Holy Family, following her teammate Hailey Schalk’s three-year hold on the event from 2017-19. She won by 10 shots and of the three subpar rounds that were shot over the two days, she had two of them, going 69-71, for a two-day total of 140. She was 10 shots better than Mullen’s Sofia Choi, whose eagle on No. 18 to close out her second round helped her match Mason’s 71.

Discovery Canyon’s foursome of Emily and Christina Cheng, Mena Song-Lew and Lauren Jaworowski were even better on Day 2 and blew out the field by 34 shots over a Windsor team that rallied from a tough first day to earn some hardware.

Emily Cheng (74), Lauren Cheng (78) and Song-Lew (78) all placed in the top 15 and Joworowski was 23rd for the Thunder, who claimed their first state title in the sport and the first girls title for the school that opened in 2007.

“This means everything,” said an emotional Thunder coach Mark Liggett, whose wife Susan begged her husband to join his team on Tuesday after missing Day 1 to be by her side in the hospital in Colorado Springs as she recovered from multiple surgeries.

“They are all really serious about their games and they came out here and they got down to business.”

It was a brilliant run for Discovery Canyon, which graduates just Christina Cheng, and will return its full compliments including several up and coming freshmen. The Thunder rolled through regionals and with their No. 1 ranking through iWanamaker, had their sights firmly set on proving to those north of I-70 that good golf was being played down south.

“We don’t deal with the Northern teams that much (especially this year), so we didn’t really know what they were thinking,” Liggett said.

Tuesday may very well have been the perfect elixir for Liggett’s soul.

“Just being up here and being with them, I didn’t want to miss it,” said Liggett, who has been married to his lovely for 35 years.. “She was feeling a little better and she told me last night to go, you can’t do anything else for me at the hospital.

“I love being able to cheer them on and watch them play their game and watch them break through.”

As for Mason, she was in control from the start. She just kept making pars and her nearest playing competitors — Mead’s Timbre Shehee and Emily Cheng — were making random bogeys to fall further behind.

“I wasn’t super nervous on No. 1 because I knew I had an eight shot lead and I just kept telling myself ‘I’m not going to blow it today and if I do, I’m going to be very upset,” Mason said. “When the lead  continued to grow, I just had to keep doing what I was doing, but don’t be arrogant about it. Be who you are and play your game.”

Mason was fearless throughout the day and the highlight of her day came at the 451-yard par-5 No. 11. She hit 8-iron in from 196 yards and just missed the elusive albatross by inches as the ball rolled over the cup and settled 2 feet behind it for a tap in eagle that took her to 6-under for the tournament.

“This means a lot, because freshman year (after finishing fifth) I was just kind of behind (Hailey) and now that I’m not, it’s nice to say that I’ve always been here,” Mason said. “It’s just coming to grips with my game and getting better.

“Feels good to keep the legacy going and hopefully next year too.”

AURORA – You have to hand it to the Discovery Canyon foursome on their performance on Monday at CommonGround G.C. in the opening round of the Class 4A state golf tournament.

Mere moments before their collective morning tee times, the Thunder group of Emily Cheng, Christina Cheng, Lauren Jaworowski and Mena Song-Lew got the usual words of encouragement from their coach Mark Liggett.

But they didn’t get to see his face, just heard his voice from back home in Colorado Springs, where he was at the bedside of his wife Susan, who is still in the hospital after complications from a surgery the week prior.

The Thunder (team score of 255), who to a player will admit they didn’t play their best golf on Monday in the ideal conditions at CommonGround, played for their coach and will carry an eight-shot lead over Holy Family (263) into Tuesday’s second round. Cheyenne Mountain (266) is in third and both Windsor (272) and Mullen (272) are lurking in fourth.

“They were all in a better mood this morning when they got the news last night that (Susan) had come out of her third surgery and found out what was making her so sick,” said Discovery Canyon assistant coach David Schwartz, whose team is in search of its first title in the sport. “They were happy to hear that and they all had a chance to talk to him on the phone and that put them all at ease that she is in a better place at least physically.”

Sophomore Emily Cheng led the way for Discovery Canyon, firing a 6-over par 78 on the 5,907-yard layout. She sits alone in third place and will be in the final pairing tomorrow with Holy Family’s Jessica Mason (3-under par, 69) and Mead’s Timbre Shehee (77).

Christina Cheng (88) and Jaworowski (89) rounded out the scoring three for Discovery Canyon.

“They did exactly what they needed to do today, finish in first place, and I think tomorrow will be a better day,” Schwartz said. “They didn’t play their best today and our top three really weren’t on their game, but we are looking forward to tomorrow and the warm weather.”

Schwartz and his team, who are hoping to have Liggett back tomorrow, know that the course they saw on Monday – damp and somewhat receptive after the overnight rains – will play a lot differently on Tuesday in what is supposed to be a 90-plus degree dry day.

“It did play a little slower as compared to the practice round yesterday and that is the most difficult thing for younger players is to readapt to changing conditions,” he said. “Tomorrow will be a totally different day and now that they have the bad rounds out of the way, they know what is in store for them tomorrow.”

As for Mason, who is attempting to keep the medalist honors at Holy Family after three straight wins by Hailey Schalk from 2017-2019, it was a nearly flawless round of golf.

The Tigers junior had it to 4-under after pouring in a 12-foot eagle putt on No. 15, and ultimately finished with a 3-under score of 69. The only blemishes on the card were a couple of three putt bogeys on the inward nine’s two difficult par-3’s.

Mason will carry an eight shot lead into tomorrow’s final round and will have a front row seat to watch her two closest chasers try and catch her.

“I was relaxed today and everything was good today, so tomorrow I just have to come back out and do the same thing,” said Mason, who went a perfect 5-for-5 in Northern Colorado Athletic Conference tournaments this season. “Even if you do have an eight-shot lead, you still have to play well.”

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

PUEBLO — If there is a way to battle back in the seventh inning, Ponderosa is going to find it. The Mustangs trailed 5-0 after the first couple of innings before rallying back to beat Evergreen with a walk-off home run on the first day of the Class 4A baseball tournament.

They followed that win up with another walk-off blast, this one against Cheyenne Mountain to enter the second day of the tournament unbeaten.

In Saturday’s marquee game, the winner of Holy Family and Ponderosa would automatically advance to the state championship series. And Holy Family looked like it wanted that advancement early as it jumped out to a 5-0 lead over the Mustangs in the first inning.

But even on a different day, the Mustangs had same grit and heart that they’ve shown in the postseason. They scored 11 of their 14 runs in the sixth and seventh innings to get a 14-11 win over the Tigers.

“It’s incredible,” coach Bob Maloney said. “We have so much senior leadership. In 30 years, I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s unmatched.”

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

It’s been quite the remarkable three-game stretch for the Mustangs (18-2 overall). Tied with Evergreen in the seventh inning on Friday, Dom Lopez blasted a walk-off home run to beat the Cougars. He hit another home run later in the day against Cheyenne Mountain which proved crucial in that win as well.

When Lopez got into the batter’s box in the top of the seventh against the Tigers (18-2), the Mustangs were down two with the bases loaded and one out. He couldn’t help but think of how things transpired on Friday.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t,” Lopez said. “But really, I just had the same mentality, just put the ball in play.”

He let loose on a monster hack on a 1-2 count and for a brief moment, it looked like the ball would carry out of Hobbs Field. It landed on the warning track and Lopez ended up at second. The rest of the runners scored and for the first time in the game, Ponderosa took the lead.

Parker Dennis got hit by a pitch then Skyler Ahern ripped a ball to left-center – the same area where Lopez had hit his double two batters earlier – but with more pop.

His ball carried over the wall to make it a 14-10 game. It was Ahern’s first home run of the season and it came at the best possible time.

“With this team we fight and battle,” Ahern said. “It doesn’t matter how much we’re down. We’ll always scratch a couple of runs across and keep fighting until the game is over. We have seven innings so we need to make all seven count.”

That’s been the mindset all weekend and the Mustangs have every intention of carrying that over.

Even with the loss, Holy Family is still in the title picture as they only have one loss in the tournament. The Tigers play Cheyenne Mountain on Friday morning with Ponderosa set to play D’Evelyn. If the Mustangs beat the Jags, they’ll have to be beaten twice on Saturday.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

Lauren Clingman’s golden goal gave No. 12 Holy Family a thrilling 2-1 win over No. 4 Windsor in the Class 4A girls soccer quarterfinals.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

PUEBLO — In two pitches, Ponderosa first baseman Dom Lopez had the best start to the Class 4A state baseball tournament of anyone that made the trip to Pueblo.

After trailing Evergreen 5-0 after just the second inning, the Mustangs had to battle back in their opening contest. They did just that and kept the Cougars off the board for the remainder of the game.

On the first pitch that Lopez saw in the bottom of the seventh inning, he decided it was time to end it. He ripped the first pitch he saw to centerfield and trotted around the bases ready to jump into the celebration of his awaiting teammates at home plate.

The next pitch he saw was his first at-bat in the Mustangs’ second game of the day. He hit it to nearly the same spot beyond the centerfield wall to make it a 2-0 lead for Pondo and the Mustangs went on to beat Cheyenne Mountain 10-8 as teammate Derek Lukes followed suit with a walk-off bomb of his own.

“I really like going after the first pitch,” Lopez said. “I think it’s the best pitch you’ll get the whole at-bat so I always go for that first one, no matter what.”

Bottom 7. Dom Lopez called game. Mustangs win 6-5. #copreps @PonderosaAthle1 @JaronCohen1 pic.twitter.com/Ejp6K0RtX0

— Daniel Mohrmann (@DanMohrmann) June 18, 2021

The Mustangs (17-2 overall) will get a bit of a breather before they head to Rawlings Field on the campus of CSU-Pueblo. They’ll take on Holy Family who flexed its muscles offensively with a 12-2 win over Lewis-Palmer to start the day then followed it up with a 12-3 win over D’Evelyn.

The winner of Holy Family and Ponderosa will be the lone unbeaten team in the 4A tournament heading into next weekend, which is ideal in this modified double-elimination bracket.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

In the first day of a state baseball tournament in over two years, the actions between Hobbs Field and Andenucio Field at the Runyon complex couldn’t have been any different. The Tigers (17-1) showed dominance on the way to their two wins at Hobbs. In the second game of the day, Holy Family scored nine runs across three innings to take a big lead over the Jaguars. Brennan Bennett, Connor Cooney, Jared Delgado, Isaac Siefken and Jaden Delgado all scored twice through the course of the game.

D’Evelyn had taken down No. 1 Severance 11-4 earlier in the day.

The thrillers came from Andenucio. Down 5-0 to Evergreen after the first two innings, the Mustangs battled back to tie the game before Lopez ended it with a solo shot in the seventh.

Cheyenne Mountain shook off any homefield advantage that Pueblo County was getting to get a 7-3 win.

Ponderosa started its game with Cheyenne Mountain off with Lopez’s second home run of the day. Cheyenne Mountain tied the game at two then pulled even 8-8 heading into the bottom of the seventh. Lopez was walked to start the inning and then Lukes just saw his pitch and blasted it to left field.

“That’s always going through my mind,” Lukes said. “After what Dom did in the first game and the momentum we had, I kind of knew what was going to happen. There was no doubt in my mind that we were going to win it.”

Severance will play Lewis-Palmer in an elimination game at Rawlings Field at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday. Evergreen and Pueblo County will follow suit at noon. The game between Ponderosa and Holy Family will go off at 7: 30 p.m. with the winner taking control of the state tournament going into championship weekend.

It’s onto the second round of the Class 4A girls soccer tournament for No. 12 Holy Family after it beat No. 5 Thompson Valley 3-0.

The complete schedule for the Class 4A state baseball tournaments in Season D.

All games are June 18-26 at Runyon Complex and Rawlings Complex in Pueblo.

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2021 CHSAA State Baseball Championships Class 4A